USDA has announced a new collaboration with DuPont to promote sustainable harvesting of bio-based feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol. The joint agreement between USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and DuPont aims to set voluntary standards for the sustainable harvesting of agricultural residues for renewable fuel, and supports rural job creation, additional income for farmers, bio-based energy development, and the safeguarding …
Farmers Expect to Plant Most Corn and Soybeans Ever
According to the USDA 2013 Prospective Plantings report, farmers intend to plant a little more corn and a little less soybeans this year, for a total of 174.4 million acres. “This will be the highest total amount of acres for those two crops that we have on record,” said USDA chief economist Joe Glauber. Corn growers intend to plant 97.3 …
Florida Bill Would Repeal Ethanol Requirement
A bill has been introduced in the Florida legislature that would repeal the state’s Renewable Fuel Standard Act. Currently, the Florida law requires that all gasoline sold or offered for sale by a terminal supplier, importer, blender or wholesaler in Florida contain 9-10 percent ethanol, or other alternative fuel, by volume. Legislation to repeal that requirement was considered by the …
Economist Says E85 Will Solve RINS Price Issue
A highly respected oil economist believes the solution to the current Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) price issue is more sales of E85 (85% ethanol). Economist Phil Verleger has weighed in on the RINS situation in the latest edition of Notes at the Margin, his weekly email report about news impacting the petroleum industry. “The obvious solution to the RIN price …
Senate Spending Bill Keeps Military Biofuels
The U.S. Senate yesterday passed a continuing budget resolution that would keep the federal government operating through the end of the fiscal year on September 30th and keep funding for advanced biofuels testing in the military. By a vote of 40-59, the Senate rejected an amendment from Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA) that would have transferred $60 million in funding for …
Renewable Fuels Leaders Refute Oil Industry Claims
Leaders of Fuels America held a press conference this morning to “preemptively answer misinformation on renewable fuel blends and gasoline prices” in a new report by the American Petroleum Institute. Speaking in defense of the renewable fuels industry were the heads of several industry organizations and companies, including Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis, Renewable Fuels Association CEO Bob Dinneen, Advanced …
RFA Calls for Investigation of Oil Industry Conduct
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is requesting a multi-agency investigation into what they are calling the “discriminatory and unlawful conduct” on the part of the oil industry. In a letter sent today to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), RFA requested the agencies investigate the …
Stop the RINsanity!
RINsanity is running rampant across the country and the ethanol industry is trying its best to bring some reason to the debate over these things called RINS. In this edition of “The Ethanol Report” podcast, Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen explains what RINS are and how the ethanol industry believes oil companies are choosing RINS instead of …
Sweetwater World Biofuels Award
A New York-based cellulosic sugar producer has received the 2013 Sustainable Biofuels Feedstock Process Award. Sweetwater Energy received the award at this year’s World Biofuels Markets and Bio-based Chemicals Conference currently being held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The award recognizes the most exciting new feedstock innovation in the development of truly sustainable and renewable fuel and chemical solutions in the …
Governors Tell Congress to Support RFS
The Governor’s Biofuels Coalition met in Sioux Falls Wednesday and sent a letter to members of Congress in support of the Renewable Fuels Standard. The letter from the 30 governors represented by the Coalition, led by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, urges Congress to stay the course on the RFS. “As governors who see firsthand the impact that the RFS has …